Education:

WillPower

Bring Theatre into Your School

As part of Burning Coal Theatre’s commitment to theater in North Carolina, and our out reach to schools and young future theater lovers and creators, we perform and teach across the state in schools and communities. For more information about current and future offerings, see below. 

WillPower! is our Education Outreach Program that works in collaboration with public and private schools throughout central North Carolina, to place a trained professional theatre artist in school for residencies from one day to six weeks in duration.

Founded in our second season (1998/99), WillPower! was originally developed to educate elementary, middle, and high school students about the works of William Shakespeare and has since matured into a tailored curriculum for students covering topics such as acting, movement, improv, theatre history, spoken word poetry and devising.  We can also take the lead on creating a FULL PRODUCTION at your school (or online).

The residencies bring a trained, professional theatre artist into your school to conduct a workshop or performance with your drama, theatre, or English classes. Every residency is custom designed to meet the needs of each individual class, school, and teacher.

AND we can also put together a tour trip to NEW YORK CITY, LONDON, or any other theatre capital that your group would like to travel to.  We do it cheaply AND we do it with the personal touch, making sure your group stays right in the heart of the City and sees and does things that you want to do.   CLICK HERE to view a FAQ sheet.

We look forward to working with you to design a curriculum that ignites the fuse within each of your students!

Full Production

  • We are happy to work with your school to create a ‘fully mounted’ virtual or in-person production.  We work with your students to rehearse, design, stage and present a fully realized production.  All you need to do is pick the play, get the rights to it, cast it, and provide the time frame in which the students will be available.  We’ll do the rest.  Fee:  $2,500.

Acting Workshop:  Scene Study

  • Students will be assigned a scene from a play and a scene partner (each will need to read the whole play). We will rehearse these scenes in a workshop format each session, with each student watching and learning how to effectively evaluate the work of their classmates as well as how to process feedback on their own work.
  • Through rehearsal and practice, students will learn about dramatic structure, as well as acting techniques from the Stanislavski System such as ‘objective’ and ‘action’.
  • Each student will gain a better understanding of the rehearsal process including text analysis and staging techniques.
  • Workshops that are 2 weeks or longer will culminate in a performance of the material created by the students.

      Fee:  $750 per week (number of weeks may vary).

Acting Workshop: Monologues

  • At the first session, each student will be assigned a monologue to learn.  They will then be led through a series of techniques to bring the character to life without a scene partner. Students will learn acting techniques such as relaxation and focus, as well as objective and action, inflection, and vocal energy, to master their monologue.
  • 1-4 Weeks with option of performance for the final week

      Fee:  $750 per week.

Devised Theatre
A crash course in one of the most exciting, cutting-edge forms of theatre today, which emphasizes collaboration and creativity. Concludes with a performance of a student-devised show.

In these sessions, students will learn to think about what components go into the telling of a story, including research, selection of material, editing, composition and staging.

1-8 Weeks
Fee:  $750 per week.

Monologues: The College Audition Workshop

This class is designed for high school students looking to sharpen their monologue repertoire and audition skills.  Perfect for those who are auditioning for BFA Acting programs or theatre conservatories, both in the US and abroad.

One Session:

Workshop:  Students may arrive with their chosen monologues memorized.  Each student will workshop their chosen monologues, through focused instruction on finding clear objectives, as well as what to expect during the audition process.  We will prepare students for the possible questions to expect in the room and typical adjustments they might receive.

Two Sessions:

Monologue Selection Students may arrive with 2-3 options memorized that we would assess according to what is appropriate for a university entrance audition.  The philosophies of different theatre programs will be discussed as well as what monologue might be most appropriate for each school.

Workshop:  Each student will then workshop their chosen monologue, learning about and exploring clear objectives and actions, as well as what to expect during the audition process. Each Student will be led through a series of techniques to bring a piece of text to life without a scene partner.  Students will learn basic text analysis of the entire play from which the monologue has originated.  Focus will include who are you talking to, where to pitch your focus, when is movement helpful, how to enter a room and most importantly, how to conclude your audition.

Three Sessions:

Monologue Selection, Extended Workshop and a Mock Audition in which students will learn what it means when professionals say, “the audition begins the minute you walk through the door and doesn’t end until you leave.”

Fee:  $200 per session.

Performance Styles

A course designed to introduce students to various acting styles (performance art, absurdist, period movement, etc.) outside of conventional realism.

(1-4 Weeks)

      Fee:  $500 per week.

Production Assistance
The teaching artist will provide support on a school-sponsored production. Support includes workshops, general production help, or the direction of the production.

1-8 Weeks|
Fee:  $250 per week.

Viewpoints

An in-depth exploration of the acting/ensemble methods popularized by Anne Bogart and the SITI Company, with classes covering character creation and ensemble work.

(1-2 Weeks)

Fee:  $750 per week

If you would like to bring Burning Coal’s WillPower! program to your school, contact us at 919.834.4001 or email us at coalartisticdir@ncrrbiz.com